Mastering the Power of the Giants

Flock felt as though he had had a very long dream. In it, he seemed to be in a lake, sinking deeper and deeper as his consciousness sank with him.

Suddenly, he felt a pain beyond anything he could bear in this lifetime. A sense of desolation instantly swept over him, and his mind cleared considerably.

But once his mind had cleared, he dimly realized that he was in a state between sleep and wakefulness. At the same time, many voices whispered in his ears, urging him to fall asleep.

In the end, after that brief moment of lucidity, Flock fell asleep again.

He did not know how much time had passed before he jolted awake and found himself lying in his tent. Flock had no memory at all of what had happened before he fell asleep.

He looked around and found Modun sitting in his tent. Seeing that he was awake, Modun asked:

"Flock, how do you feel? Do you still remember what happened earlier?"

Flock shook his head at the question, then said:

"What time is it? What happened to me? Why was I sleeping here?"

Modun answered his questions.

"It's already afternoon. You should still remember what happened after His Majesty said he would grant you the power of the Giants, right?"

At the mention of the power of the Giants, Flock suddenly remembered that Eren had intended to grant it to him. In that instant, he understood his current situation.

Seeing Flock's expression change, Modun knew that he had more or less figured out what had happened, so he said:

"You're right. His Majesty granted you the power of the Giants. According to him, the Giant you inherited is called the Screaming Giant. It can summon and attract those mindless Giants with its roars, and it can control ten of them. It can also harden parts of its body. Nothing except my Jaw Giant can break through the defenses of those hardened areas."

"I remember telling you before about what happened when I first transformed into a Giant. After inheriting the power of the Giants, you lose consciousness during your first transformation. Some people also lose a stretch of their memories from before the transformation."

Next, Modun told Flock what had happened after he transformed into a Giant and how they had stopped his rampage.

Of course, Modun only told him that several Giants had pinned him down and given him a few hefty slaps.

In any case, injuries sustained in Giant form could all heal, so it did not matter whether he mentioned it. What if telling him damaged their relationship? Right now, they were the only two people in the entire empire who had been granted the power of the Giants. In Modun's view, they could transform and spar often in their free time, exchanging pointers.

Finally, once Modun had finished explaining, he told Flock to rest well and said that Eren would come to see him that evening to train him to regain consciousness after transforming into a Giant. With that, Modun went out, leaving Flock alone in the tent to think.

Meanwhile, after Flock lost consciousness, Eren had begun taking stock of the supplies, money, and captives seized from Yunkai.

Although the city had been plundered just half a year earlier, the search had not been thorough, so many of the remaining slave masters had retained a large portion of their wealth. This time, however, Eren had come to destroy it. Anything valuable, even a pillar or a toilet, had to be packed up and taken away.

As a result, the money and valuables seized this time were still considerable. Moreover, Yunkai had trained quite a few bed slaves over the past six months. Eren planned to keep the female bed slaves for now, then, after taking Astapor, gather all the women of suitable age together and hold a month-long selection event.

After finishing the administrative work with Lydia's assistance, Eren keenly felt how few people capable of handling such affairs there were among the Dothraki, a people who knew only how to hack people down and kill. It seemed that the empire would need to focus on cultivating talent in this area.

By the time Eren finished handling administrative affairs, evening had arrived. Flock had also finished resting by then, so Eren summoned him and Modun,

preparing to help him master the power of the Giants. Eren planned to have Flock regain his reason after transforming that night, leaving everything else for gradual training later. The army still had to set out for Astapor tomorrow, and speed was essential in war.

When they fought at Astapor, Flock could slowly learn how to fight using the power of the Giants, how to use Hardening proficiently, and how to control Pure Titans.

Eren found an open space and took Flock and Modun there, bringing three Pure Titans along as well. During the previous battle, Eren had discovered that Modun alone could not subdue Flock without endangering his life. With three Pure Titans, they could restrain him more effectively.

Flock arrived at the clearing. On the way, Eren had told him everything he could. All Flock could do now was keep himself alert and strive not to let his reason be swallowed up.

Lightning flashed with a yellow glow. A Giant's bones and flesh constantly wove themselves together, and a moment later, a roaring Giant appeared in the clearing.

Eren observed the Giant Flock had become. Seeing him begin destroying his surroundings again after transforming, he immediately took control of the three Pure Titans. He had two pin down Flock's arms while the third sat on his back, forcing him to lie face down with his nape exposed, humping the ground.

Eren told Modun to go to Flock's exposed nape, find the right spot, and stab him somewhere nonfatal, using pain and shouting to help him regain his reason.

Upon seeing and hearing Eren's instructions, Modun picked up a long blade and climbed the body of the Giant Flock had become. Since the mindless Flock kept struggling to shake off the Giants on top of him, Modun needed many attempts before reaching his nape.

Modun positioned the blade, found the right spot, and thrust it in hard, shouting at Flock as he did:

"Flock, wake up! Remember what we said before coming here about regaining your reason! You're not someone who would willingly admit defeat like this!"

As he spoke, Modun shifted the blade in his hand, hoping to make Flock's pain a little more intense.

Although Flock reacted inside the nape, his response to Modun's words was too slight. The stimulation was insufficient, and he remained lost in sleep.

Modun talked himself hoarse but felt that Flock was not reacting at all. Just as he was at his wits' end, an idea suddenly occurred to him, and he said to Flock:

"Flock, if you don't wake up, His Majesty said you won't get any beautiful women in the future, and all your women will be taken away too!"

The sleeping Flock jolted awake the instant he heard the words "beautiful women." For the sake of women, he forced himself out of sleep through sheer willpower. Once awake, he let out a loud yell, venting his displeasure at having been asleep for so long.

After regaining consciousness, Flock found himself pinned to the ground, so he struggled even harder, nearly shaking Modun off. When he found that struggling was useless, he looked at Eren.

Seeing that Flock was conscious, Eren had Modun climb down, then controlled the Pure Titans to release him.

Once released, Flock controlled his Giant body and stood up. Seeing him stand there after rising, Eren knew that Flock was more or less fine now. As it happened, he still had plenty of stamina because he had only just transformed.

So he had Modun transform and play around with him, while also letting him get a handle on how to use Hardening.

Finally, after Flock and Modun had fought for a while and exhausted their stamina, Eren took them back.